After a paste is screened onto a substrate and it settles for 5-15 minutes at room temperature, it undergoes oven drying at 100-150°C for 10-15 minutes to remove solvents. Firing is then completed in conveyor belt furnaces at temperatures between 500-1000°C.

Take CIGS solar cells for example, thin film active layers are commonly formed using sputter deposition. After sputtering, the thin film needs to be annealed at 400-500°C to achieve optimum results. It is also possible to inject additional chemicals during the annealing process.

Brazing

It is a metal-joining process in which a filler metal is heated slightly above its melting temperature while typically protected by a suitable atmosphere. The filler metal, then flows over the base metal (wetting) and cooled to join the parts together.

PMC - Post molding curing

The process of exposing the part to an elevated temperature to speed up the curing process and maximize some of the material’s physical properties, as well as to prevent problems such as warpage during encapsulation in chip packages.

Reflow soldering

A process in which a solder paste is melted in a controlled heating environment to permanently connect electrical components to their contact pads or boards. Typical reflow process is done in a reflow convection oven with preheating zone, thermal soaking zone, and cooling zone to avoid thermal shock, spattering, and oxidation.

Electrical contacts are usually formed by screen printing. The firing is done in conveyor belt furnaces at a temperature of about 700°C for a few minutes. Upon firing, the organic solvents evaporate and the metal powder becomes a conducting path for the electrical current.

TiO2 nanoparticles have been used extensively to increase the interfacial surface area in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells. Nanoparticle films are generally made by screen printing a paste of titania nanocrystals and then sintering the particles together at 450-500°C.

Glass-to-Metal Seal (GTMS)

During GTMS processing, components are placed on a fixture that holds them in position and put through a belt furnace configured to maintain a controlled atmosphere in the firing chamber. They are heated to appropriate temperatures for the particular set of materials, with the intention to let the glass soften just sufficiently.

SMT - Surface-Mount Technology

A process for constructing electronic circuits in which the component are mounted directly onto the surface of PCBs. The boards convey into a reflow oven where the temperature is high enough to melt the solder particles in the solder paste and bonding the component leads to the pads on the circuit board.

It is the process in which a ceramic substrate typically made of alumina, AlN or BeO is bonded to a sheet of copper one or both sides through a high temperature oxidation process. Typically, the entire substrate is heat to an elevated temperature between 1065°C – 1083°C in a controlled atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen.

Calcination

It is a thermal treatment process in which the product is brought to an elevated temperature below its melting point in the presence of air to create a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of volatile substances.

Metal Heat Treating

Heat treating is an essential step in achieving desired properties of alloy. Common methods include annealing, normalizing, quenching and tempering. For alloys with oxidation risks, protection atmosphere like N2, H2 are needed.